If Man Made God Up [Spirituality & Religion]
If man fabricated the idea of God, what was his motive? Please don't say as a security measure, because "all have fallen short of the glory of God (meaning the holy standards of God, but all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that comes through Jesus. Roman's 3:23-24)", so that would do man no good at all. Security only works by grace, never "works". One cannot earn their way to heaven.
Nor is it fear, or at least shouldn't be. Followers of Christ do not follow Him out of fear...period! There is no fear in perfect love. 1 John 4:18. God's love is perfect because HE is perfect. A man who sacrificed His own life for another...in this case, the sin debt of the world...is no bully or threat, in any way. For without Him, we'd all go to Hell. He never came as a threat. Just the opposite! He came to save souls, who were already condemned by their sins, so we could have eternal life in Heaven. He didn't have to do that. But He did. In fact, He volunteered.
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, the only hero is God. Rather than pave the way for personal gain, the truths of the Bible lead to self-sacrifice and surrender. Rather than instruct us how to earn God’s favor, the Bible tells us that no one is righteous (Romans 3:10, 23). In other words what this is telling us, is that not one of us can live up to God's perfect holy standards, because we have a sinful nature. That is why it took a pure, perfect sacrifice to pay for our sins. Note that we are in a state which already separates us from God. That's why we need Jesus. He is the only person who has access to His Heavenly Father, so we can receive forgiveness from Him, by Jesus's mediation for us.
Throughout history, those proclaiming the Bible’s truths, have been martyred, stoned, and driven into hiding (1 Kings 19:10; Acts 7:58; 2 Corinthians 11:25). Their death was not in vain. They loved God so much, they willingly gave their lives for Him. This was not men dying for other mortal men. This was men voluntarily giving their lives for the God they knew and loved. No one can transform the lives of men, except the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit transforms us into the image of Christ. 2 Corinthians 3:18
Nor is it fear, or at least shouldn't be. Followers of Christ do not follow Him out of fear...period! There is no fear in perfect love. 1 John 4:18. God's love is perfect because HE is perfect. A man who sacrificed His own life for another...in this case, the sin debt of the world...is no bully or threat, in any way. For without Him, we'd all go to Hell. He never came as a threat. Just the opposite! He came to save souls, who were already condemned by their sins, so we could have eternal life in Heaven. He didn't have to do that. But He did. In fact, He volunteered.
Throughout the Old and New Testaments, the only hero is God. Rather than pave the way for personal gain, the truths of the Bible lead to self-sacrifice and surrender. Rather than instruct us how to earn God’s favor, the Bible tells us that no one is righteous (Romans 3:10, 23). In other words what this is telling us, is that not one of us can live up to God's perfect holy standards, because we have a sinful nature. That is why it took a pure, perfect sacrifice to pay for our sins. Note that we are in a state which already separates us from God. That's why we need Jesus. He is the only person who has access to His Heavenly Father, so we can receive forgiveness from Him, by Jesus's mediation for us.
Throughout history, those proclaiming the Bible’s truths, have been martyred, stoned, and driven into hiding (1 Kings 19:10; Acts 7:58; 2 Corinthians 11:25). Their death was not in vain. They loved God so much, they willingly gave their lives for Him. This was not men dying for other mortal men. This was men voluntarily giving their lives for the God they knew and loved. No one can transform the lives of men, except the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit transforms us into the image of Christ. 2 Corinthians 3:18
